ECC football coaches welcome open date

By Rick Scoppe-The Daily News/Sports Editor

Published: Sunday, October 6, 2013 at 11:00 AM.

Southwest coach Phil Padgett was like his coaching colleagues in that he generally never liked open dates, but he liked the idea that this week off gave his players a chance to get healed up. Even so, he wasn’t a fan of the timing.

“I’d rather have it a week or two earlier and then go into conference play with a game under our belt right before,” he said. “But, you know, it’s the same for everybody. So I’m just glad to have an open date because we definitely need one.”

To a man, each coach said they practiced four days, giving their players Friday night off, which was a first for Padgett in his 26 years as the Stallions’ head coach. Usually, he said, he will give his players Wednesday off during an open date, but not this year.

All the coaches said they left it up to their players whether to go to a game Friday night. Some said they would encourage them to see other teams, adding they also went to games. All also echoed Holley’s sentiment as well.

“Act like they got some sense,” he said. “I don’t care if they go, just don’t embarrass yourself, your family, your team. Just do the right thing.”

Each coach had a different approach to how much hitting they did during the open week, with all saying they would hold out players who were banged up. Iseman said the Bulldogs would hit “bags and shields” more than each other.

Ditto for Perry, who because of both injuries and a small roster didn’t plan on doing much hitting.

Even football coaches who generally don’t enjoy open dates were happy that the East Central 2-A Conference collectively took this past week off, spending the time working to get better physically, mentally or technically – or all three.

Six straight weeks of playing and practicing can do its share of damage to the body and the brain, leaving players bruised and banged up and coaches bemoaning a lack of time to focus on fundamentals after watching another Friday night of busted assignments.

“In the past I haven’t liked open dates a whole lot,” Northside coach Bob Eason said. “I like when we play 11 games in 11 weeks. I’m all about playing. But it’s a great opportunity to get better. It gives you a week to concentrate on your team a little bit.”

While Eason and the Monarchs (3-3) could be excused for wanting to get right back on the field after an impressive 24-0 win at Goldsboro, Dixon (4-2) headed into the open week having lost two straight – including a 45-6 loss at home to Pamlico on Sept. 27.

So it’s understandable that coach Brandon Iseman welcomed the open date.

“I tell you what, it couldn’t come at a better time for us,” he said. “We’re banged up and bruised up. We’ve played without a couple of our key guys the last couple games. So it’s almost perfect timing for us.

“I’m glad it’s here. We can get healthy. It’s good chance for us to refocus on some fundamentals, things that might get overlooked while we’re in-season with all the game-planning and all that. So I think it’s perfect timing.”

And that’s from a coach who generally isn’t a fan of open dates.

“My competitive side does not like it,” Iseman said. “We all love Friday nights and being able to compete. Definitely this year I’m loving it because it’s what we needed at this point. But normally I would lean on the side that I don’t like it because I like competing.”

Croatan coach David Perry liked the timing of the open date, which comes after six weeks of nonconference play and before conference play begins this coming Friday. It also didn’t hurt that the Cougars (0-6) get a chance to take a break from what has been a tough season to date.

“It kind of works out good to me,” he said. “You play your nonconference games and get a week to get ready for the second season and get to go just relax for a weekend and let the kids work on some fine-tuning.”

East Duplin coach Battle Holley was ambivalent about open dates.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” he said before adding that “normally” he isn’t big on open dates. “We haven’t had one since I’ve been here. But it’s better than having what happened (when he was) at Kinston. We had an open date the week before the last game.

“But I think it’s a good time. Everybody’s off. So I don’t think anybody’s getting an advantage. You don’t get to go watch a conference opponent live.”

Southwest coach Phil Padgett was like his coaching colleagues in that he generally never liked open dates, but he liked the idea that this week off gave his players a chance to get healed up. Even so, he wasn’t a fan of the timing.

“I’d rather have it a week or two earlier and then go into conference play with a game under our belt right before,” he said. “But, you know, it’s the same for everybody. So I’m just glad to have an open date because we definitely need one.”

To a man, each coach said they practiced four days, giving their players Friday night off, which was a first for Padgett in his 26 years as the Stallions’ head coach. Usually, he said, he will give his players Wednesday off during an open date, but not this year.

All the coaches said they left it up to their players whether to go to a game Friday night. Some said they would encourage them to see other teams, adding they also went to games. All also echoed Holley’s sentiment as well.

“Act like they got some sense,” he said. “I don’t care if they go, just don’t embarrass yourself, your family, your team. Just do the right thing.”

Each coach had a different approach to how much hitting they did during the open week, with all saying they would hold out players who were banged up. Iseman said the Bulldogs would hit “bags and shields” more than each other.

Ditto for Perry, who because of both injuries and a small roster didn’t plan on doing much hitting.

“We’ve got everybody playing,” he said, “but we need some rest.”

Padgett said the Stallions wouldn’t hit as much as normal because of injuries. But, he added, “we’ll hit a little because we have to.”

Game or no game, Eason said the Monarchs, who are “pretty healthy,” would hit as usual.

“We hit a lot anyways compared to a lot of teams,” he added. “So we won’t tape back any. We get used to it because we have a lot of contact in practice. I’m just one of those guys that if you don’t hit a whole lot, you get hurt more I feel like. The kids get used to the physicality of football practice.”